Comprehensive Current affairs 18 August 2020

PMO denies information regarding PM-CARES sought via RTI.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has denied a Right to Information (RTI) request related to the PM-CARES Fund on the grounds that providing it would “disproportionately divert the resources of the office”.

However, a High Court judgment and multiple orders of the Central Information Commission (CIC) have previously held that, under the RTI Act, this rationale can only be used to change the format of information provided, not deny it altogether.

This is a “misuse” of the Act, which should attract penalties under the law, says the country’s first Chief Information Commissioner WajahatHabibullah.

RTI activist Commodore LokeshBatra (retd.) had filed an RTI request asking for the total number of RTI applications and appeals received and disposed of in the PMO since April 2020, and the number of such applications related to PM-CARES and the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund.
Section 7(9) of the Act says, “An information shall ordinarily be provided in the form in which it

is sought unless it would disproportionately divert the resources of the public authority or would be detrimental to the safety or preservation of the record in question.”

“There is no ambiguity. This is a misuse of the clause by CPIOs. It is up to the information commissions to levy penalties as this would amount to misinformation provided under the Act,” said Mr.Habibullah.

IB officials to fast track Naga peace process

The National Socialist Council of Nagaland-IM (NSCN-IM) said on Sunday that after Naga interlocutor R.N. Ravi created an imbroglio in the peace talk process, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had mandated a team of Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials to fast-track the communication and clear the pending issues.

The group also released a copy of the original 2015 framework agreement, which stated that the Centre had agreed on “sharing the sovereign power” and provided for an “enduring inclusive new relationship of peaceful co-existence of the two entities”.

The NSCN-IM, one of the largest Naga groups, signed a framework agreement in the presence of Prime Minister on August 3, 2015 to end the decades-old Naga issue.

Mr. Ravi had signed the agreement on behalf of the Centre. After five years, the group is demanding the removal of Mr. Ravi, accusing him of “highhandedness” and tweaking the agreement to mislead the other Naga groups. Mr. Ravi was also appointed as Nagaland Governor last year.

India-Poland to expand bilateral investments post COVID.

Central Europe’s biggest nation and India’s traditional partner in the region is keen to invest in India and simultaneously keen to expand basket of Indian investments in the country.
PM NarendraModi is keen on creating new investment opportunities in India in the post-COVID period and on facilitating the inflow of foreign investments. India is the primary location in Asia for Polish investors (currently 270 mln USD).

Poland would encourage its entrepreneurs to invest in India and also would like to invite more Indian investors to make business in Poland, sources informed.

Increasing two-way investments was one of key issues discussed at the Indo-Polish Foreign Office Consultations held last week through a virtual meet. Poland has also proposed cooperation with India on research and innovation.

The global COVID-19 crisis has seriously challenged free trade and created significant disruptions in global supply chains, which is particularly problematic as regards deliveries of medical and protective equipment needed to tackle the pandemic. The best way to overcome this global crisis is by strengthening international cooperation.

Presently, about 30-40% of goods exported by India to Poland are reexported to other EU Countries. Poland possesses reputed clean coal technologies and Polish public-sector companies have played a substantial role in development of mining and power sectors in India.

Post deal, Israel-UAE establish direct phone link

The Israeli and UAE Foreign Ministers inaugurated on Sunday direct phone services between the two countries in their first announced call after an agreement to normalise relations, said an Emirati official.
The UAE’s Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Israel’s Gabi Ashkenazi “inaugurated a phone link between the United Arab Emirates and the state of Israel, and exchanged greetings following the historic Peace Accord signed by the two countries,” tweeted Hend al-Otaiba, director of strategic communications at the UAE’s Foreign Ministry.

The Israel-UAE deal, announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday, is only the third such accord Israel has struck with an Arab country, and raises the prospect of similar deals with other pro-Western Gulf states.

Mr. Trump said leaders from the two countries would sign the agreement at the White House in around three weeks.

Plasmodium vivax

The parasite Plasmodium vivax, responsible for 7.5 million malaria cases worldwide,remains understudied. An international team has developed a system to breed parasites
Plasmodium vivax in the lab and then infect cultured human liver cells with it. This can help establish a robust liver stage assay in P. vivax-endemic regions such as India.
Plasmodium Vivax:

• Malaria is a significant global health problem with a substantial disease burden worldwide.

In 2017 there were approximately 219 million cases of malaria responsible for about 435000 deaths, the majority on the African continent (WHO World Malaria Report 2018).

• Malaria results from infection with single-celled parasites belonging to the Plasmodium genus. Five species of Plasmodium are known to cause disease in humans: P. falciparum,

P. vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae, and P. knowlesi.

• Globally, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax account for the majority of cases of malaria.
• While Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for more deaths, Plasmodium vivax is the most widespread of all of the malaria species, can cause severe, even fatal infections and results in significant global morbidity and mortality.

New Method:

• An improved method for breeding Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes in the lab was developed.
• The females were fed with blood collected from Indian patients with the P. vivax infection.

• Two weeks later, the mature sporozoites were taken from the mosquitoes’ salivary glands, added to cultured liver cells (multiple human hepatocyte platforms) and studied.

• This approach can be used to further study the liver stage.

How do Mosquitoes Inject the Parasite?

• Mosquitoes inject the sporozoite (spore-like) stage of the parasite into the skin when they bite, and the sporozoites travel to the liver.

• Some 50 parasites enter our liver and each infect one liver cell or hepatocyte and multiply enormously to 10,000 or more.

•These can then move out and infect blood cells.

• Not much is known about its dormant stage in the liver. The study can help establish a robust liver stage assay in P. vivax-endemic regions such as India.

• As the number is very low in the liver, our immune system barely notices it. This was believed to be a silent stage.

• The parasite can remain in the liver in a dormant stage and relapse later. So there is an urgent need to find drugs for P. vivax which will kill both the blood and liver stages.

Drug Resistant Malaria Parasites:

• Certain malaria-endemic countries have abandoned chloroquine for P. vivax treatment.
Fortunately chloroquine is still effective in India.

• But the currently used anti-relapse drug, Primaquine, has many undesirable side-effects, especially in patients with a genetic defect called G6PD deficiency. Moreover, it takes 14 days to administer this drug for radical cure

• Hence there is an urgent need for development of a new class of drugs. The researchers add that this assay could also be used to test if a specific anti-malarial drug would work for
an individual, thus paving the way for individualised treatment for patients.

Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO)

•The Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO) have recently been launched by the Defence Minister of India.

Highlights:
• Its objective is to foster innovation and indigenisation for self-reliance in defence in keeping with the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

• It will put in place dedicated structures for the end-users to interact with academia and industry. It is a three-tiered organisation.

• Naval Technology Acceleration Council (N-TAC) will bring together the twin aspects of innovation and indigenisation and provide apex level directives. It is a working group
under the N-TAC will implement the projects.

• Technology Development Acceleration Cell (TDAC) has been created for induction of emerging disruptive technology in an accelerated time frame.

• Indian Navy already has a functional Directorate of Indigenisation (DoI) and the new structures will build upon the ongoing indigenisation initiatives, as well as focus on innovation.

• A compendium concise collection of information of Indian Navy’s indigenisation perspective plans titled ‘SWAVLAMBAN’ has also been released.

•The Draft Defence Production and Export Promotion Policy 2020 envisages Service Headquarters establishing an Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation within existing resources.
• The Navy has an in-house design bureau, which has made progress in designing the ‘float’ and move (propulsion) components.

•There is a heavy reliance on imports for armaments, called the ‘fight’ component.

Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) Sarthak.

An Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) for the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) was recently launched and named as Indian Coast Guard Ship ‘Sarthak’.

Highlights:
• It is the 4th in the series of the indigenous project for 05 OPVs.

• It is a long-range surface ships capable of coastal and offshore patrolling, policing maritime zones, control and surveillance, anti-smuggling and anti-piracy operations with
limited wartime roles.

• It has been designed & built indigenously by M/s Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) in line with the government’s vision of ‘Make in India’.

• It has about 70% indigenous content, thus providing the necessary fillip to the Indian shipbuilding industry and a giant leap towards achieving ‘Atmanirbar Bharat’.

• It is fitted with state-of-the-art Navigation and Communication equipment, sensor and machinery.
• It is designed to embark and carry a twin-engine helicopter, four high speed boats and one inflatable boat for swift boarding and Search & Rescue operations.
• It is also capable of carrying limited pollution response equipment to undertake oil spill pollution response at sea.

Germany to ban use of light in a major way to protect insects.

The German ministry of environment is preparing a draft law that will outline measures to protect the country’s insect populations, according to a report in Outlook Magazine.

Light traps will be banned outdoors as part of the measures. Searchlights and spotlights will also be prohibited post sundown for 10 months in a year.

Insecticides will be banned from being used in national parks with five to 10 metres from a major water body. Orchards and dry-stone walls are to be preserved as natural habitats of insects.
The environment ministry is seeking to get cabinet approval for the draft law this October.

Microplastics increasing in the Maldives

The proportion of microplastics, miniscule pieces of plastic waste that are less than 5 millimetres long, has increased dramatically in the island country of the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, according to a study by Flinders University, Australia.

Scientists from the university found plastic pollution in sand on 22 sites across Naifaru, the most populous island in the Maldives.

The concentration of microplastics found on Naifaru was found to be 55 -1127.5 microplastics / kg, that is greater than 3 – 611 microplastics / kg, the concentration previously found on a highly populated site at Tamil Nadu, India, the study said.

The microplastics were being transported by ocean countries from neighbouring countries like India or were getting concentrated due to the Maldives’ own flawed policies regarding waste like using uninhabited islands as landfills, the study added.

Finance ministry to workout norms regarding re-appointment of central government officers.

The finance ministry is working on norms to regulate salary paid to retired central government employees re-appointed on contract and has proposed keeping nomination-based appointments at "bare minimum".

The expenditure department has framed draft regulations for salary payments in case of appointment of retired central government employees and has invited comments of ministries/departments within 10 days.

The draft guidelines state that appointment of retired employees on contract basis, including as consultants, by way of nomination based on the credentials of past service and not through open market advertisement, should not be made as a "matter of practice and must be kept at bare minimum".
With regard to salary payment, the draft guidelines said a fixed monthly amount shall be admissible, arrived at by deducting the basic pension from the salary drawn at the time of retirement. It shall be termed as "salary".

It further said that in cases where the appointment of retired central government employee is made from open market, then the remuneration may be regulated as per terms and conditions of the contract.

PM aims to cover all villages through optical fibre network

In the coming one thousand days, every village in the country will be connected with Optical Fibre Cable (OFC), Prime Minister NarendraModi said in his address on the occasion of 74th Independence Day today.

Mr.Modi mentioned that before 2014, only five dozen Panchayats in the country were connected with optical fiber cable. In the last five years, nearly one lakh 50 thousand Gram Panchayats in the country have been connected with optical fiber cable. 

He further added that participation of rural India and villages in Digital India is very important for balanced development of India. To enable this, he said, optical fibre networks will be expanded in the country.

This will reach all the six lakh villages within the next one thousand days. Prime Minister also announced that in the next one thousand days, Lakshadweep will be connected with submarine optical fiber cable.

Organic Food for Health and Nutrition

India ranks first in number of organic farmers and ninth in terms of area under organic Farming.
Initiatives for Organic farming:

• Sikkim became the first State in the world to become fully organic.

• North East India has traditionally been organic with very less consumption of chemicals.
• Two dedicated programs- Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD) and Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana (PKVY) were launched in 2015 to
encourage chemical free farming.

• It was aimed for assisting farmers to adopt organic farming and improve remunerations
due to premium prices.

• Both PKVY and MOVCD are promoting certification under Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) and National Program for Organic Production (NPOP) respectively to target domestic and exports markets.

Major Organic Exports from India:

• The major organic exports from India are flax seeds, sesame, soybean, tea, medicinal plants, rice and pulses.

• They were instrumental in driving an increase of nearly 50% in organic exports in 2018-19, touching Rs 5151 crore.

Mission Organic Value Chain Development for North East Region (MOVCD):

• It is a Central Sector Scheme, launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

• It is a sub-mission under National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).

• It aims to development of certified organic production in a value chain mode (VCM).

• VCM aims to link growers with consumers and to support the development of entire value
chain.
• It is implemented in all 8 North-Eastern states (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura).

Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana:

• PKVY is an extended component of Soil Health Management under Centrally Sponsored National Mission on Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA).

• Launched in 2015, it aims at supporting and promoting organic farming for improvement
of soil health.

 Objective:

✓ Promote organic farming among rural youth/ farmers/ consumers/ traders.

✓ Disseminate latest technologies in organic farming.

✓ Utilize the services of experts from public agricultural research system in India.

✓ Organize a minimum of one cluster demonstration in a village.

Major Features of the Scheme:

• The cluster chosen for Organic Farming shall be 20 ha or 50 acres in extent and in as contiguous a form as possible.

• Of the total number of farmers in a cluster, a minimum of 65% farmers should be allocated
to small and marginal category, to be fulfilled at cluster level as far as practicable.

Components:

✓ Adoption of Participatory Guarantee System (PGS) certification through cluster approach.
✓ Adoption of organic village for manure management and biological nitrogen harvesting through cluster approach.

Financial Assistance:

✓ Maximum assistance of Rs. 10 lakhs per cluster subject to a maximum of Rs. 50,000 per farmer per ha under Manure Management and Biological Nitrogen Harvesting.

✓ At least 30% of the budget allocations need to be earmarked for women beneficiaries/
farmers.
Jaivik Kheti Portal:

• Jaivik Kheti portal is an initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture to promote organic farming globally. Buyer can now avail organic products at their doorstep through the portal at much lower prices. This portal links various stakeholders like regional councils,local groups, individual farmers, buyers, government agencies and input suppliers.

• It provides various price discovery mechanisms to help farmers get the best prices for their products through forward auction, price-quantity bidding, book building and reverse auction mechanisms.